The Buccaneer Project

[Gentleman of Fortune]

Capn Bo...

See. I told you pikes would sell.

I don't think their is anyone making them.... and they seem simple enough.

I will PM you some Axe and pike info.

You don't have to apologize for machine sewing. I understand how that thing called life gets in the way.

Authenticity is really a goal. People that call themselves authentic are just heading down the road toward the goal. Nobodies kit is perfect but getting there, to me, is half the fun.

As to the buttons, I will throw in a bag of complete ones too!

GoF

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Patrick,

Remember...I've just begun the "sea-leg" of my journey. I haven't yet seen any of the weapons that we're talking about, but I'm certain you are correct. As soon as I get the patterns and particulars, I'll be making them for sure. The first ones will go to the first of the Buccaneer Alliance for field test and review, so as to correct the flaws and test the durability. ( ain't we special )

As far as the pikes go... I'll make some for the HMCA to test, as they will definately get a good workout. Then I'll know that I've got a good product, same thing as the axes.

Once that happens... the White Trash Forge... ... will be open for trade!

Capt. Bo

[Patrick Hand]

the White Trash Forge.

Dang.... that exactly describes what I'm planning on setting up this Spring.... I found a web page that tells how to make a forge out of a bar-b-que grill, some brick and pipe..... then using a chuk of I beam for the anvel...... I'm not planning on doing a lot of blacksmithing.... but I want to try making some stuff......

Sewing, knitting, wood, metal, and leather work.... Picking up a lot of different skills .....

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

My stuff ain't home-made, but there's still alot of anvils and blacksmith tools at auctions here in the Ozarks. They used to go really cheap, but the Amish have started moving in in droves, and for "simple" folk... they sure have the coin to toss around! Makes auction prices for hand tools rise when they show up.

One of the things that REALLY pisses me off, is to drive by some restored farmhouse and see a damn good forge being used as some yuppie gals flower bed! I may begin a new form of pyracy... FORGERY..(liberating forges from flowerbed servitude )

I have worked on I-beam anvils, and sections of rail-road track too. That would be very "White Trash" and I'd have to extend an invitation for membership!

Later... Capt. Bo

[JoshuaRed]

Forgery - HA! Bloody brilliant Bo!

[Monterey Jack]

Patrick,

Remember...I've just begun the "sea-leg" of my journey. I haven't yet seen any of the weapons that we're talking about, but I'm certain you are correct. As soon as I get the patterns and particulars, I'll be making them for sure. The first ones will go to the first of the Buccaneer Alliance for field test and review, so as to correct the flaws and test the durability. ( ain't we special )

As far as the pikes go... I'll make some for the HMCA to test, as they will definately get a good workout. Then I'll know that I've got a good product, same thing as the axes.

Once that happens... the White Trash Forge... ... will be open for trade!

Capt. Bo

I appreciate the help, Cap'n;

The HMCA will be needing a few for next season and apparently for drill work they used to use a large calibre musket ball lashed over the tip for protection.

So it could be said you really need balls to practice with these things.....er...for historical accuracy that is.....

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

HAH!... and biggun's at that :)

Capt. Bo

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Any of you buccaneers up for a wild hog hunt in Missouri? My scouts have informed me that there is a herd on a nearby wildlife area and the Conservation Dept. wants them GONE! I plan on going over this weekend to try my luck and see for myself the size/condition of the lot. There are no license requirements on these animals as they are feral and not native species. They destroy the habitat for all other animals, so it's an erradication program. "Free" pork!

Capt. Bo

[Patrick Hand]

Dang.... a Buccaneer Pig hunt would be a blast.......

[Monterey Jack]

Any of you buccaneers up for a wild hog hunt in Missouri?

Capt. Bo

See SEE??!!

All the really cool stuff happens back east!

Take one down fer me, Cap'n!

[Fox]

On the subjects of boarding pikes and pig-hunting:

One of the most distinctive things about the classic boar-spear is the lugs or bars which protrude below the head. Boars have a classic inability to realise when they're dead and were known to charge up the length of the spear to gnarl the hunter. The lugs prevented this.

The only buccaneer era boarding pike (as opposed to shortened land pike) I can recall seeing was one from a Swedish ship, late 17thC (maybe Kronen, but I can't be sure), which had two lugs protruding from just below the head... :)

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Absolutely Foxe. Pigs are "pig-headed" about givin up the ghost! :)

I've seen the one offered by Jas. Townsend&Sons, but at $120 for just the head and no shaft, I'm going to fashion my own even if I have to "cheat" and use my Mig-welder and oxy-acetelyne torch to get it done! I'll be using a 12ga with slugs for this outing, as I've never gone after feral hogs before. Once I know more about it I'll try the period method of musket and pike.( I'll back up with my trusty ol'.45 acp!)

I'll let ya'll know how it turns out.

Capt. Bo

[Monterey Jack]

Absolutely Foxe. Pigs are "pig-headed" about givin up the ghost! :)

Once I know more about it I'll try the period method of musket and pike.( I'll back up with my trusty ol'.45 acp!)

I'll let ya'll know how it turns out.

Capt. Bo

A buddy of mine down in california went out hunting havalina (sp) with a longbow. Fortunately he brought his 44 Desert Eagle with him. The thing took an arrow thru the body and attacked the jeep the archer was standing in, nearly ripping the tire off the wheel before he could put two slugs in it from above.

[Daniel]

Back east? I'm from Missouri too, and I think that's the first time I've ever heard my home called "back east." Wild Bill Hickok once killed a man in the Springfield town square, barely 100 miles from where I live.

Captain Bo, I won't be able to go pig-hunting this weekend. But I told the wife and kids that we'd go camping this summer, so if you do another hunt or something in the summer, drop me an e-mail; I might be able to talk them into it.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Daniel, No kidding!?! In Missourah? Too cool! Don't forget spring turkey season is just a couple of weeks away too! If we're not too busy around the "El Rancho Pequeno", or working for a living, hunting is what I do most! Anytime you're free we have lot's of ground to use for camping, canoeing, hunting or all of the above! Let's go!

Capt. Bo

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Well, I spoke for an update on the hog hunt... didn't happen. I forgot about the youth only portion of Wild Turkey season being this weekend. Kids fifteen and under get to hunt before the regular season opens, so my son and I get to spend some great time together.

Also, there was a small mountain man rendevous at a nearby campground/canoe rental place, so Saturday we went to burn some powder on the shooting match. It was only the fourth year for their event but it seems to be growing. Not a historical event but a good time anyway.

I knowthis is off topic, but I did promise to tell everyone how the hog hunt went. It went like this...

This is how to keep your kids out of trouble! Spend time doing things that keep your family together! :)

Capt. Bo

[Fox]

Just thought I'd share this here - my new buccaneer gear.

[Daniel]

Interesting. Is that a boar spear? And what kind of hat?

[Monterey Jack]

Well, I spoke for an update on the hog hunt... didn't happen. I forgot about the youth only portion of Wild Turkey season being this weekend.

Phew!

For a minute there I thought ye'd bagged the first flying pig.

[Patrick Hand]

Foxe, That's interesting that you went with a heaver jacket... I went with a lighter one.... interpretation of those drawings leaves a lot of room for guesswork.....

Sence you went with the bare leg look, do you think that it works.... I just think that if Buccaneers didn't wear pants, there would have been coments about it..... but most of the pictures do look that way...... Hey... your going to get some delightfull breezes tho......

I don't go bearfoot enough to not wear shoes... when I went to Rendezvous, I'd always step on a rock the first night out, then limp for the rest of the weekend.....

The cut down hat work good tho....

I just wish there were more details showing hunting pouches, and other accuterments in the pictures.....

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Now that's very cool! Just needs some bloodstains and wear&tear!

Capt. Bo

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Had to come back and check this out again. Foxe, did you take a low crown hat and trim it "ballcap" style? Also, as you can see from my photos, I'm a bit partial too natural linen in my garb. OK to use this in a seamans jacket for the period, or should I stick with the wool?

[Fox]

Ooh, lots of comments...

Yes, it's a boar spear. I couldn't be bothered to get my gun out the cabinet (which is behind the tents; the wheels I keep thinking about making into a gun carriage; the oars, rudder and other boat gear; a stack of coiled ropes; 3 bikes; and my tool chest) so I figured that for a 17thC pig hunter a boar spear was probably the next best weapon.

The hat was a kind of low-crowned wide-brimmed felt hat which I cut most of the brim from, just leaving a peak. It's based on the hats in this picture and others:

I went for a heavier jacket for two reasons: 1. I already had one (several in fact), and 2. In the UK we don't often get tropical heat, so it's a comfort thing too.

We know that jackets were often made from wool, and I can certainly place woollen clothing in the Caribbean in the late 17thC from wills and suchlike, so I figure that it's authentic. Linen or lighter jackets would, I'm sure, be equally authentic, the only thing I would say though is that very light flimsy outer garments are a more modern thing - 17thC garments tended to have more body, so even in the Caribbean I suspect that linen jackets mostly had several layers - but this is only a suspicion.

The other thing to bear in mind is that we have pictures of buccaneers just in their long shirts, with no jackets on at all. This suggests that the jackets were primarily a practical garment, rather than one worn for decency's sake (let us not forget that even in the hottest climes a civilised gentleman was "undressed" in his shirt sleeves). That being the case it make sense for a jacket to be relatively warm. The one in the picture in fact is unlined wool so it's still quite cool anyway.

I went for bare legs and bare feet because it's what I think the pictures mostly show - though as you say there is room for interpretion. I spend more time without shoes than with so for me it's not such an issue. Not sure how the bare legs will work, but it's not really so different to the Northern Indians in their breech-clouts and leggings.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

I was curious also about the weapons laws across the pond. Evidently the ban didn't effect historic arms.(?) Just curious. And where did you get the spear? I saw the shiny ones in Jas. Townsend catalog, but I thuoght them a bit pricey.

[Fox]

I forget the name of the guy who made the boar-spear, but he makes a lot of very good, reasonably-priced polearms. I bought it originally because it is almost identical to a 17thC Swedish boarding pike (I mentioned earlier in the thread). I think I paid £40 for it (about $60?), and it's never let me down - it's been through countless battles and isn't even dented.

The gun laws over here are ridiculously complex, but as they relate to re-enactors can be explained fairly easily.

Guns fall into two categories for legal purposes: shotgun or firearm. Each type requires a license, but with shotguns at least, once you have the license you can own as many as you like. The shotgun license is fairly easy to get, you have to pay a small fee and satisfy the local police officer that you're not a criminal or insane, have a reasonable good reason for wanting one (member of a re-enactment society, member of a local game shoot etc), and have reasonable security precautions in place (a locked cabinet fixed to the wall). To get a firearms certificate you have to pay a much bigger fee and satisfy much more stringent criteria, as well as having much more intense security. Thus, while many re-enactors have shotgun licenses very few have firearms certificates

Of course, this limits the types of guns we use a lot of. A "shotgun" in the eyes of the law is a smoothbore weapon with a bore of between 1/2" and 2", and a barrel length over 24". Anything shorter, of a smaller or larger calibre, or rifled, counts as a "firearm". Thus, muskets and carbines, and even small cannon can be held on a shotgun ticket, while pistols and larger cannon require a firearms certificate. The law makes no distinction between historical weapons and modern high-power guns.